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March 12, 2004
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Birthday bash celebrates the arts
Hundreds came to the Clayton Community Library last Saturday to enjoy a spectacular birthday party. The community library is nine years old and the party theme was a “Community Arts Celebration.” It was the brainchild of Community Events Director, Arlene Kikkawa-Nielsen who coordinated the arts party and sale to help make up for the 27 per cent cut in the library materials budget for 2003-2004. “The support from the community was overwhelming,” Nielsen says. She cites contributions from the local art community, Diamond Terrace, Costco, the schools and the city of Clayton. The two-day event featured indoor and outdoor displays, demonstrations and entertainment. From jewelry and pottery displays to fabric bowls, photography, loom weaving and oil
painting, residents from Clayton and surrounding areas were treated to a variety of local artists and artisans, with special performances by Jim Bone, cowboy poet, Vintage singing group featuring Santi Martinez and his wife, Joyce Novicky; the Clayton Valley High School Women’s Ensemble, and improv group, along with the West African & Hip-Hop Dance. Young and old alike were drawn to the creekside wildlife habitat interpretive area to see a live owl and hawk on display from the Native Bird Connections. In every corner of the community room and courtyard, there was something to see and enjoy such as Sue Faina’s cake decorating technique, Linda Van Heerlum’s woven wool items, Janet White’s murals and paintings and Diamond Terrace’s Wilma Stone’s beaded jewelry.
Five-man crew, down and dirty BY JILL BEDECARRE Clayton Pioneer
John Johnston doesn’t live in Clayton but he talks about
the city as family. He has worked in Clayton’s maintenance department for the past 14 years and he’s gotten up close and personal with his own
Tamara Steiner / Clayton Pioneer
MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR, John Johnston
Tamara Steiner / Clayton Pioneer
CLAYTON RESIDENT, JANET WHITE was one of more than 20 artists and artisans who helped celebrate the Clayton Community Library’s ninth birthday. Russ Andoval’s pottery and kiln demonstration along with Ted Holmsen’s woodcarving lathe attracted amazed on-lookers. “I’m so impressed with the
variety of local talent,” says Clayton resident Carolyn Hartnell. Other partygoers were surprised to see such an eclectic event at a local library. The
staff, city employees, residents and of course the city landscape. Johnston along with Mark Janney supervise a staff of three—-that’s a total of five maintenance workers for what seems like an endless stream of duties and responsibilities including maintaining more than one million square feet of landscaping. It becomes even more of a challenge, as it happened last week, when one employee is called away for jury duty and another is out sick. That leaves Johnston with only three. We do what we can do,” he says. The department is under scrutiny lately for the city’s escalating landscape woes. In recent months residents have complained about overgrown weeds, dead trees and brush, and water run off from faulty irrigation equipment. When he talks about the landscape issues and all the complaints, his expression changes and he becomes quiet. “I take everything to heart. The city means everything to
Wood smoke regs proposed
See Crew, page 16
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BY TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Who hasn’t curled up in front the fireplace with a heavy rainstorm raging outside? A good book, a glass of wine and a crackling log – this is the stuff of cozy winter nights. But wait–there’s more. Add to this heartwarming picture nearly half a pound of PM10, belched into the night air by that cozy fire. PM10 is air quality shorthand for inhalable particulate matter, the ultra-microscopic particles that make up wood smoke, and which is responsible for a whopping 30 percent of all air pollution. Air quality regulators consider these particles a serious health threat, especially to young children, seniors and anyone with lung problems. At the Mar. 2 meeting of the Clayton City Council, representatives from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
sunny, warm weather added to the inviting ambiance of the free event sponsored by the Clayton Community Library Foundation. During March and
(BAAQMD) asked the council to adopt an ordinance that would make the old open fireplace and wood burning stove history. The ordinance, if passed, will prohibit builders of new homes from installing any wood burning device unless it is a pellet stove, or an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved wood stove or fireplace insert. The ordinance would also apply to homeowners who are remodeling or renovating. According to Teresa Galvin Lee of the BAAQMD, the use of these approved stoves and inserts reduces the pollution from wood smoke by up to 99 percent. “The ordinance does not ban wood burning in fireplaces,” explains Galvin. “The intent is to encourage cleaner burning in new fireplaces.” Galvin estimates that the new regulation will add $100 to $200 to the price of a new home. Where an existing home
April, artwork for sale will be displayed inside the library along with related materials on various forms of art.
is under renovation, she estimates the average cost to replace an old fireplace or stove with an EPA approved stove or pellet stove to be about $2,000. However, she adds, the new regulation only requires that the old fireplace or stove be removed, it does not require that it be replaced. Contra Costa County already has wood smoke regulations in place for the unincorporated areas of the county. The BAAQMD has sent out requests to the cities in East County where pollution from wood smoke is the highest in the county, asking that they adopt similar regulations. Galvin is awaiting replies from these cities. The only other city in the county which has adopted the wood smoke regulations is Moraga. The Council directed staff to prepare the ordinance for review at the Mar. 16 council meeting.
PIONEER ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT The Clayton Pioneer spotlights a local youth athlete from our circulation area in the second issue each month. If you are a coach or administrator and would like to nominate a young person (under 20 years of age) for the Rocco’s Athlete Spotlight, please send information to sports@claytonpioneer.com or fax to 672-6580. Deadline for nominees for our March 26 issue is Monday, March 15.